


Heart of Beauty

by BarPurple



Series: Once Upon the Seas [5]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Canon Divergence, F/M, Fix-It, Original Character(s), season 6 AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-11-17
Packaged: 2018-08-31 06:16:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8567131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarPurple/pseuds/BarPurple
Summary: Black Eyed Suze hadn't been to Storybrooke in a few years, but after her last visit with her father-in-law she had a mission, and since it involved family it wasn't going to be a pleasure cruise.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, I thought to myself who can fix the mess of RumBelle? The obvious answer was Black Eyed Suzanne, pirate captain and tavern owner of Tortuga, and this fic came into being. It does have a happy ending, I promise.

The flash of green bathed Storybrooke in eerie light. Killian grinned at Emma and Henry as the three of them set off at a run for the docks. As they ran Emma couldn’t help wondering if the sudden appearance of the Sea Hag was a good thing or not. Last time Black Eyed Suzanne visited these shores she brought dire warning and a battle in her wake, the way things had been going for everyone lately Emma could only cross her fingers and hope the pirate captain brought better news this time. 

The ship was moored by the time they reached the harbour. The excitement in Killian’s voice was clear as he cupped his hand to his mouth and shouted: “Ahoy Suze!”

Henry grabbed Emma’s arm as they caught sight of Suze at the rail of her ship. The pirate captain presented an intimidating image as the wind swept through her shell braided hair, the black of her strange eyes swirled with angry silver waves.

“Whirlpool.”

Henry’s whispered description was accurate, the obvious anger of the pirate was underscored by the way she stormed down the gangplank and punched Killian square in the jaw. He reeled backwards into Emma’s arms almost piercing his face as his hook flew to the injured side of his face.

“What the bloody hell was that for?”

Suze glared at him as she shook some feeling back into her fingers.

“Becoming the Dark One. Releasing the souls of the Dark Ones. Dying. Pick one.”

“Only one of those was my fault!”

“I don’t care!”

Henry could feel the tension radiating off his Mom, but he was having a hard time not giggling, right now Suze and Killian reminded him of Hansel and Gretel when the siblings were arguing. The similarity became complete when the silver in Suze’s eyes suddenly settled into gentler waves and she pulled Killian into a fierce hug.

“Don’t die like that again Poppet.”

“I’ll do my best, Suze.”

Emma blew out a sigh and cleared her throat causing Suze to release Killian and grin at her.

“Princess! Tis good to see you.”

The pirate gave her a brief bow, but Emma was still on edge.

“Am I going to get punched as well?”

Suze shook her head, her gold tooth flashing in the sunlight as she smiled.

“Tempting, but no. I think we’re good.”

A heavy silence hung over the docks until Henry calmly asked; “What brings you to Storybrooke, Suze?”

The pirate took a small step back and made a great show of looking Henry up and down, her eyes flashed coldly, but her voice was warm when she spoke.

“My, haven’t you grown Mister Mills,” She smiled slowly and gripped the strap of the satchel that hung over her shoulder a little tighter before she said; “I’m here to find the Dark One.”

 

Suze’s skin was prickling as Poppet, Princess and Henry led her into town. She was sailing a narrow course here, the restrictions she was under were stringent and harsh should she break them. Poppet had tried to question her further, but he knew her tight lipped glare well enough not to press too hard for answers. Mister Mills kept shooting her curious glances, the lad had certainly come into his power, but Suze couldn’t put her finger on the nature of it, until he caught her arm and pulled her back a few steps from his mother and Poppet.

“I’m the Author of the storybooks. That’s what’s different about me.”

Suze blinked hard at Henry’s statement, of all the possibilities she’d considered that hadn’t featured at all, but it suddenly made sense that the little lad she had met a few years back was the now the legendary Author; she just wasn’t sure how worried she should be about this new development, she’d never trusted the written word that much. She gave the lad a careful nod.

“Oh, well that would explain that.”

He edged closer to her and whispered.

“It means I’m good with words, Suze.”

The undercurrent there was clear; he knew she was deliberately choosing her words with care, although he was probably suspicious that she was up to no good he appeared willing to see how this would play out. She nudged him playfully in the side with her elbow.

“So am I Mister Mills, we’ll find out how good in a moment or two.”

 

Rumple’s head snapped up from his spinning wheel a split second before the bell above the pawnshop door chimed. He shuddered as a tang of salt and honey reached his senses, he was on his feet and at the curtain before Miss Swan had a chance to call his name.

“Gold! Oh there you are. Someone here to see you.”

Emma jutted her head toward Suze; Killian had been about to make the introductions, but the way the Crocodile and Suze were acting made him hold his tongue. Slowly the two of them bowed, never taking their eyes off each other, they were squaring up like stray cats eyeing the same scraps in an alley. Henry and Emma watched the strange dance with as much confusion as Killian. The two participants edged ever closer to each other until Suze lunged forward and grabbed Gold’s lapels at the same moment he grasped her arms. They tugged themselves towards each other and for a second Killian thought she was going to head butt him; in his opinion that would have been preferable to what actually happened. Suze’s lips crashed against Gold’s in harsh kiss, a flash of magic momentarily blinded everyone, but they all heard;

“The accord is broken.”

“The deal is broken.”

The first thing Emma saw when she’d blinked away the after imaged of the magic was Suze reeling from Killian’s punch. The pirate woman actually chuckled as she rubbed her jaw.

“At least I know what that was for.”

In his anger Killian jabbed his hook toward the Crocodile and spat out the first question he could find words for; “What the hell was that?”

Rumple’s lips twisted into a smirk.

“A kiss, surely you recognize it?”

Suze rolled her eyes as Emma grabbed Killian’s arm to stop him swinging for Gold. Why was it every time she came to this bloody town she had to spill a secret?

“That was the conclusion of a long standing accord between Spider, erm Rumplestiltskin, and I.”

Rage battled disgust and hurt on Killian’s face. 

“How long standing?”

The shells plaited into Suze’s hair rattled as she shook her head.

“I swear I will explain everything later, but right now there is work to do.”

Killian still looked mutinous, but he gave a tight nod; Suze wouldn’t have come all the way from Tortuga unless there was a pressing reason. Emma decided that moving things along quickly was the best way to go, so she asked the obvious question; “Why are you here?”

“I have something that belongs to Spider’s wife.”

Rumple’s eyebrow twitched, but that was the only sign that betrayed his interest in Suze’s words.

“And what would that be, dearie?”

Suze reached into the satchel slung over her shoulder and carefully pulled out a red pulsing object. It rested gently on her palm as she cocked her head, apparently unconcerned with the shocked gasps from everyone else in the room.

“Her heart. I think she’ll want it back don’t you?”


	2. Chapter 2

Rumple masked his panic by pulling a look of fuming anger onto his face as he pointed at the heart in Suze’s hand.

“That cannot be Belle’s, I cast a protection spell around her heart, and no one can take it from her.”

Suze shrugged; “You didn’t protect it against gods.”

It took a moment for the meaning of her words to sink in. Everyone heard Rumple’s teeth grind together, but he snarled out the name of the guilty party.

“Hades.”

“Aye, he got his paws on it sometime after Gaston when into the River of Lost Souls.”

Rumple glanced around the room, Miss Swan and Hook wore confused looks, they hadn’t known about Gaston; Henry’s face was blank, was it possible he knew about it? Rumple couldn’t be sure; the Author’s powers were still frustratingly unclear. The most pressing questions were how Suze knew any of the details of what had happened in the Underworld, and what did she want to return Belle’s heart? 

“What do you want, witch?”

Behind Suze Killian winced, Suze never reacted well to being called ‘witch’ when she didn’t corrected the Crocodile he boggled at her, he was beginning to think he didn’t know his oldest friend at all. 

“We can’t come to an accord while I hold this. I won’t use Beauty’s heart as a bargaining chip.”

She offered the heart to Rumple, but his hands were shaking by his sides as he held himself back from reaching for it. His voice was soft and low when he spoke; “I’m not worthy to hold something so precious.”

Suze frowned in puzzlement, but shrugged and turned on her heel.

“Mister Mills, would you please keep this safe until it can be returned to its rightful place?”

Henry’s eyes widened in surprise, but he nodded and carefully took Belle’s heart from Suze’s hand. She gave him a small bow of thanks and spun back to face Rumple.

“Now we can parley terms.”

Henry’s eyes were darting around as he tried to take in all the details at once, he’d read about his Grandfather making deals, but it was something he’d rarely witnessed first-hand, and every sense he associated with the Quill was suggesting that this would be a rare deal indeed.

Rumple looked down at his hands where his fingers were unconsciously toying with his ring. He folded his hands together to still the movement and met Suze’s eyes.

“I want to know what Hades had planned for Belle’s heart. I want to know how you came by it and the knowledge you have of events in the Underworld, and I will want you help to undo any lingering harm he may have done.”

“First I need to examine your Dagger.”

Killian spluttered as Rumple gave a casual shrug and pulled his Dagger from his inside pocket and handed it to Suze. Never had he seen the Dark One be so casual with the one thing that could control or kill him. She took it with a nod, but rolled her shoulders uncomfortably.

“Poppet, stop glaring a hole in the back of my head. Yes I know of the Dagger. I will explain, but now is not the opportune moment.”

Killian huffed, but held his tongue as Suze gave Rumple an apologetic shrug.

“This might tickle a bit, Spider.”

Emma felt the tingle of magic in the air as Suze waved her hand over the Dagger. Rumple gave a pained groan and clutched the counter, he looked nauseous and for a moment Emma was certain he would vomit. The magic faded from the air.

“Hellfire and damnation!”

Suze bit back more curses as she returned the Dagger to Rumple who still looked queasy. 

“You have an odd definition of ‘tickle’, witch.”

She dismissed his complaints with an indifferent wave of her hand, and then hopped up to sit on the counter top and dug her flask out of her pocket. Everyone’s eyes were on her as she took a deep draught; she deliberately misinterpreted their gazes and offered the flask.

“We don’t want a drink Suze! What the bloody hell is going on?”

Suze tucked her flask away with a sigh and cracked her knuckles before taking a deep breath.

“This all started when Poppet summoned the Dark Ones from the Underworld.”

Killian shifted guiltily, but Suze was already pointing at Rumple.

“Then you absorbed all of them and became the Dark One again, but the damage had already been done. An opening was created that let the first Dark One slip free.”

“Nimue is free?”

Suze’s brow scrunched at Emma’s question.

“No, not her, the very first Dark One, the one whose name was never on the Dagger, Vortigan.”

“What does this have to do with Belle’s heart?”

Rumple’s impatience was plain in the tone of his voice, but Suze was unflinching. 

“Hades wanted your second born child.”

The array of blank looks that her statement was met with caused Suze to bury her face in her hands for a moment, she heaved a deep sigh.

“Some point after Spider absorbed the Dark Ones, but before your jaunt to the Underworld magic happened between Spider and Beauty,” Rumple looked awkward, but the other three were still uncomprehending, “Oh for pity’s sake, they made the beast with two backs and Belle got a bun in the oven. Vortigan stowed away and is linked to the child!”

The glass next to Suze shattered as Rumple drove his fist through it. Suze calmly plucked a stray shard from her sleeve and dropped it to the floor.

“You feel better for that?”

Rumple’s answer was a snarl.

“Thought not, how about we put Beauty’s heart back and remove the stowaway?”

Rumple flexed his hand healing the cuts his outburst had inflicted. He twitched his cuffs level and made to move toward the door, but halted before he’d taken a full step.

“How do you know all this?”

Killian gave a mirthless laugh.

“The bees.”

Emma and Rumple stared at him but he refused to explain further. It was Henry who said; “Oh, Charon the ferryman.”

Suze hopped down from the counter and clapped Henry on the shoulder.

“Aye, lad. Ferry the souls of the souls of the departed is a family business, Charon is my father-in-law.”


End file.
